The Void
by Wannabecriminalman
Summary: A man and his ship. Simple enough. But things tend to get a lot less simple when you add crime lords, bounty hunters, ex-Covenant outcasts, and a past that can come back to bite you.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

On the fringes of UNSC territory, a small ship drifted away from the system's single inhabited planet, unseen by the several other ships in orbit. The ship was a complete pitch black, with strange angular surfaces. It would have aroused anyone's suspicion had they been able to see it, which they couldn't. This was lucky for the ship's single inhabitant, for though the ship was his, it was definitely not _legally_ his. This had been the case for the last four years, but with no one looking for it, and no one being able to find it if they were looking, the ship's inhabitant was finally becoming secure that the ship would remain "his".

As for the inhabitant, had he not been 6'6" tall and heavily muscled, he would have been a plain sight to look at. His skin had a reddish tint, and a few indistinct freckles scattered at random, with short cut light-brown hair. He had small, almost beady brown eyes, an undefined jaw line, thin lips, and an overall visage that seemed to be unable to decide if it was soft-featured or scowling. The way he hunched over when around others hid most of his height, and even his name, Daniel Webber, added to the effect of making him easily forgettable. Which was just how he liked it.

Daniel stared at the view screen on the bridge of _The Highwayman _in contemplation, watching the planet slowly drift in the opposite direction. On the night side, he could see a few scattered clusters of light, giving proof to the planet's relatively sparse population. A female voice penetrated his daze, "Systems scan complete Captain." "Operational status Raven?" replied Daniel. "Begin with stealth systems." " Surface coolant system operating at peak efficiency, all reserve tanks full. Electromagnetic dampeners functioning flawlessly. Stealth coating is at maximum coverage. Overall system entropy is minimal. Surface temperature is holding at .06 degrees Kelvin." Daniel nodded. "Good". Considering the ship's history, and utter lack of any external weaponry, the ability to remain unseen was always the highest priority. If it had been anything less, he would have had to go back and have a few threatening words with the man he had just paid a considerable sum of money to do comprehensive maintenance with no questions asked.

"What's the reactor status?" Daniel inquired to the AI. "Fusion reactor output is at 25 percent, Captain. Deuterium reserves will last for a projected 546 days of continuous operation." The AI said in her usual chipper tone. It was programmed this way to give personality to a machine that realistically had very little. When Daniel had bought the "Dumb" AI named Raven two and a half years ago, he had found her to be somewhat irritating. He had needed an AI to monitor the ship's considerable stealth systems, and a simple one was all that he could afford at the time. He had eventually gotten used to her, and even found her somewhat comforting at times, despite being so obviously artificial. She was, after all, the only semblance of companionship he would have for extended periods of time, on space voyages that were long enough to get lonesome, yet not long enough to warrant climbing into a Cryo tube. And it certainly beat having to rely on a simple NAV computer to get him places, as he was forced to do for the first year and a half of his private life. What he could never quite get used to, though, was how she always called him Captain. His former military experience always nagged at him whenever she called him a rank that wasn't his. He had tried having her call him Daniel, but he quickly ended it, being even more unnatural to him. So, unable to think of anything better, he simply went by "Captain".

"What's our ETA to Salamis, Raven?" "We will be jumping in twenty minutes, and will be arriving in 49 hours, 16 minutes and 06 seconds." Daniel read the words as they popped up on the screen while she said them. Daniel was still being taken aback by how precise of time increments the jumps were being measured in, and by how short the jumps were. Not long ago, getting _anywhere_ in two days was completely unheard of, as was being able to say exactly how long you would be in slipspace. Two ships leaving the same place at the same time could arrive at their destination days, or sometimes weeks apart, and hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from each other. But now, Covenant grade slipspace drives were being produced in small numbers, although most were restricted to military purposes. Two months earlier, Daniel had had the tremendous luck of meeting two black marketeers who had gotten their hands on one by means which they would not disclose. Daniel wasn't in a position to be too curious. This drive was so advanced, that he could have jumped from the surface of this planet, straight onto the surface of Salamis. He had not yet been forced to do this, though, as it would cause a rather large explosion on the planet he left behind, as well as being unnecessarily risky. Raven was good enough for most things he needed her for, but the calculations involved for gravity well jumps were a little out of her league. He had asked her about it once, and she had told him that they would have a 90 percent chance of merely surviving the jump, regardless of what condition they would be in on the other side. Needless to say, it was a last resort measure that he hoped he never had to use.

After pooling every last scrap of money in his possession, and even selling some of his things to cover the obscene cost of this little gem, Daniel now had the means to move four times faster than he previously could. It was easily the best investment he had made so far. Now that Daniel could do business a such a breakneck speed, money was hardly an object anymore. In the time since he had bought his new drive, he had already made the money back that he had spent on the it, and that was what he had accumulated since he started working on his own.

The business that Daniel happened to be in was a rather unique one. What he did was whatever his clients required of him at the time. Who his clients were was whoever offered him enough money. Daniel could transport goods of any nature, and rarely bothered himself to even look inside his cargo bay. _The Highwayman_'s sensors could tell if there was anything toxic, explosive, or radiological, and he would prepare accordingly. He could chauffer people to places that they weren't technically supposed to be. He could deliver messages to people without going through the usual channels. Whether it was inside the law or otherwise, Daniel wasn't picky about the job, just the pay. What he truly excelled at, however, was the application of force, where proper channels had failed to resolve matters. Ever since the end of the war, the UNSC had been desperately trying to regain its footing. The outer colonies on the opposite side of the Covenant invasion had fallen into disorganization, and sometimes outright chaos. This meant that his particular brand of service was highly valuable. Daniel could hire himself out as a bodyguard, a mercenary, or even an assassin if he was desperate. There were almost always bounties to collect, and he had taken so many that other bounty hunters sometimes came after _him._

It was a fine line Daniel had to walk, though. He was extremely good at what he did, but if he was too good, it would draw unwanted attention to himself, and his very large ill-gotten-gains. He had to do enough work to keep his ship running, but had to simultaneously keep his name from spreading. High-profile assassinations were out of the question, because that would obviously draw too much attention. He didn't dare go near the Inner Colonies, for the more ships that were in the vicinity, the likelier he was to be detected. In the Outer Colonies, he could land his ship legitimately, without having to use stealth, but in the Inner Colonies, there would surely be someone who would get suspicious of a civilian with a military stealth ship. However, things were beginning to look up lately. His new slipspace drive allowed him to travel much further distances between jobs, making it much less likely that people would know him.

In all, Daniel had adjusted to civilian life well enough, and despite his isolation he found his new life to be challenging and interesting. And after all, he could always be confident that even if he did somehow get caught, no one but those in the highest echelons of military intelligence would know who he really was, and even they believed him to be dead. Few people knew even his name of Daniel Webber. There was now virtually no one, not even Raven, that knew his name used to be SPARTAN Daniel-G226.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Daniel moved silently, among the coniferous trees that surrounded him and his squad-mates. He was taking point, as he always did. He always was sure to stay just far enough ahead to distance himself from the others, but not far enough to be reprimanded by the squad leader of team Claymore, Shelly-G062. He had a knack for this sort of thing. He could always toe the line without ever stepping over far enough to get in trouble. Sure, he had been yelled at plenty, but only on very rare occasions did anything he did merit actual disciplinary action. If it happened to be at the expense of his team members, it mattered little to him. Daniel heard a branch snap next to him, and saw a distortion in the air that could only be Anthony-G077. "You should be more careful, Tony.", Daniel teased. "One shuffled leaf, and I'm sure every Brute on this planet will come to check it out." He was obviously mocking his squad leader, who was always a stickler about that sort of thing, and who furthermore had ears like a bat. "Ha, I doubt these idiots would notice if I were dragging behind a speeding Warthog with blazing assault rifles strapped to my feet as skis." The two snickered to themselves, recalling with relish how easily they had caught that last patrol off guard. They hadn't had any time to draw their weapons or even yell before Claymore's silenced rounds had penetrated their shields, and shortly afterward, their skulls.

"How many times do I have to tell you two to SHUT UP and stay in formation?!" Said Shelly, as forcefully as she could while whispering. "This isn't some stupid training exercise where the worst you'll get is a few hundred pushups from Mendez. This is serious. If those Brutes catch us off guard because of you two, I hope you're prepared for a few spiker rounds through your visor, and I can't guarantee it will be the Brutes doing it! Have I _made _myself _clear_?!" "Yes ma'am" The Spartans replied., still trying to contain their laughter. They were used to tirades like this from the squad leader, and not without reason. It was not lost on Daniel that it was probably because of his and Anthony's belligerent attitudes that team Claymore was not now competing for top honors. Shelly, beginning to sense the futility of it, elected to fume silently for the time being.

Anthony was the first to stop and raise his silenced SMG. All of the others immediately followed suit. Their objective was still several kilometers away, and they were now just sneaking their way through scout pickets. They slowly worked their way to the source of the noise that they all now heard. The heavy footsteps of two Brutes, and six others, Jackals and Grunts. The five Spartans of team Claymore came to an opening in the forest, with a wide path cutting through. The covenant patrol was clambering its way through so noisily that Daniel couldn't help but shake his head at them. The patrol was looking to pass them in about 10 seconds. "What do you say Shelly, Should we go loud?" Said Daniel, tossing one of his two captured plasma grenades to Anthony. "Hmmm. It won't be long before they realize their patrols are missing anyway. We can risk it. Go have your fun." Said Shelly. She then gave the sign to form up for an ambush.

The last thing the red-armored brute major ever heard was the rest of his patrol screaming and diving for cover. He looked to see what it was, felt a sudden heat on his lower back, and his world promptly erupted in a flash of blue light.

"Nice throw Tony. A Brute and three grunts with one grenade. Would have made 117 proud." Said Daniel to Anthony, after the rest of team Claymore had mopped up the rest of the patrol. "Oh, you're just trying to avoid the fact that you had to hog the red bastard to yourself." Said Anthony. Daniel could tell that he was grinning like a maniac under his cloaked visor.

Suddenly a voice blared over the com channel from team Rapier. "Alert! Alert! Hostile banshees have been engaged! Repeat, enemy banshees have sighted us! Our cover's blown!"

"Let's go, Let's go!" Shouted Shelly. "They're gonna be sending everything they've got at us now! This is what we've been training for Spartans!" With that, team Claymore broke into a sprint, as did the other 62 five-man squads currently traversing the forest. They were nothing but a translucent blur, moving faster than any normal human could go, despite the dense woods. Far to their left, they could hear the sounds of plasma fire and screaming brutes, which suddenly cut short, handiwork of team Scimitar. Activating his helmet zoom, Daniel could see Brutes Pointing their spikers every which way, trying to locate the mysterious presence that had infiltrated their forest. In the time it took the brutes to look in the direction of the rustled leaves, their shields were already half drained, and the grunts that had surrounded them dead from impossibly accurate headshots. The next moment, team Claymore was already on top of them and slowed down only for a moment only to place their SMG's neatly inside the brutes' mouths. A moment later, team Claymore continued at the same breakneck speed, leaving bloody mounds of dead meat behind them, Daniel and Anthony leading as always.

They continued like this for another ten minutes, with the covenant resistance steadily increasing. Not nearly as much as Shelly had initially feared, though. These Brutes had been caught with their pants all the way down. A sudden flash of sunlight indicated the end of the forest, which had opened up to reveal a massive Covenant supply depot. With the perfect timing that Spartans were known for, the rest of the 315 Spartans in Gamma company exited the forest as well. Daniel looked over and for a split second, marveled at the sight of an army of nearly invisible Spartans, charging the garrison simultaneously. It looked like a massive rippled wave of distortion in the air, and the Covenant defenders were unsurprisingly confused and terrified. The Spartans opened fire, the combined sound of 315 silenced weapons creating a cacophony of high pitched pulsing sounds. The first wave of defenders were cut down in moments, but this was a large garrison and more Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts raced out to defend the wall that surrounded the complex. Brutes roared and fired a few misaimed spikes into the mass, but the Spartans speed kept any from making contact.

After approximately 15 seconds of this, which seemed like much longer to Daniel, he, among the first wave of Spartans leapt into the air, straight onto the wall, and began to slaughter the remaining troops stationed there. Once the wall was taken, The Spartans began to filter into the kilometer-wide complex, any resistance meeting the same fate as the rest of the defenders. "Squad, status report." Called Shelly over the com. "I've taken a spike to the shin, ma'am." Said Luther-099. "Just a graze, I'll patch it up later." Shelly looked in front of her and found it vacant. "Dammit you two, get back in formation!!" Screamed Shelly at Anthony and Daniel who had once again gotten too far ahead. Reluctantly, they came back into Shelly's view continuing to lay down their deadly fire, stopping only to change clips.

The firefights continued through the base for another ten minutes, and Gamma company had worked their way to the center of the complex, which looked like a command building. The enemy commanders had holed themselves up inside, hoping that reinforcements would arrive in time. Daniel looked up to see a gold armored Brute chieftain wielding a gravity hammer charge out in a suicidal rage. Before his large, deadly weapon could be brought into swinging range, though, he was cut down by a hail of gunfire that overloaded his shields and put him down for good. "Assault teams entering command building." he heard over the com, and saw sixty Spartans entering, leaving the rest of them to defend. Team claymore began to fend off a stream of Covenant, desperate to retake their base. After a few minutes, the assault group emerged. "The guy in charge is dead, and the package has been placed, there's no way they'll find it in time. Fall back!"said the same voice. In thirty minutes, a key supply depot and garrison for the covenant would be nothing more than an atomized dust. Gamma company began a quick and orderly withdrawal.

Once they made it past the same wall they had arrived at, the race to the ships was on. The Spartans began to sprint again, trying to cover the eleven kilometers to the ships. Their superior endurance would have allowed them to run much longer than this, though.

Daniel was busy congratulating himself, when he heard a very unwelcome sound coming from his left. "Mortars!" Yelled Shelly before he could open his mouth. "Damn, how did they get tanks into position this fast!?" She turned on her com link, and broadcast to the rest of gamma company. "We've got trouble on the left, enemy tanks are bombarding the area!" The first volley made it to the forest floor. Anthony looked ahead and saw several brutes, accompanied by grunts and jackals. It could be surmised that many more were on the way. "Damn, we don't have time for a firefight. Attention Gamma company, Sub prowler 4 has been cut off, covvies are flanking us! Redirect to 1 through 3!"

Daniel and Anthony continued to fire into the oncoming horde, unwilling to break away from the fight. "You two, get your asses over here now!" Anthony shouted something unintelligible, when Daniel heard the sound of a mortar dangerously close to him. He dove behind a tree and looked back just in time to see a glowing blue orb of energy descend right on top of Anthony. "TONY!" He screamed right as the mortar hit. There was a flash of blinding blue light and Daniel was forced to look away, as a wave of heat washed over him. He looked back and saw… nothing. Just a blackened scorch mark where Anthony had been standing a moment ago. For a split second, Daniel just stood there, too shocked to move. It was long enough though for a grunt to run up behind him and place a needler round straight into his back, just below the neck. Right where his communications port was.

Shelly was continuing toward subprowler number three at a slower pace, hoping that she would see Daniel run up beside her. She had already seen Anthony's vitals go dead, but Daniel was still alive. But when she pulled up his vital signs on her HUD, she saw them flatline right before her eyes. No slowing down and stopping, they just went flat in the blink of an eye. "No!" That could only mean one thing. He too, had been pasted by plasma mortars. She shook her head, trying to clear her eyes of the tears that began to well up. "Dammit, you two. You knew better than this! How could you be so… stupid!" She shook her head once more, and ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

Unbeknownst to anyone else in gamma company, Daniel was currently staggering his way through the forest, or as close to staggering as any Spartan can get. He had taken down most of the troops that had been near him, in his rage at Anthony's death. As more covenant had begun streaming into the area, though he realized that his position was too exposed and that rejoining the rest of the Spartans was no longer feasible. He was too far behind enemy lines, now. All he had for a weapon was a plasma pistol he had wrested from a felled grunt before he ran off, his SMG and pistol having long run out of ammo. He was really starting to feel that punch the last brute had landed on his midsection. The needle that had broke his com relay had barely penetrated to the skin, but it still burned like fire ants, due to micro shrapnel released when the needle burst. He looked at the countdown timer for the nuke. It read 17:23. He knew there was no way to make it back to the others, so sub prowler 4 was his only option. He was fairly sure that there was no covenant around it, it was too far out for their patrols, and it was well-hidden. He brought up the map on the HUD. If he hurried, he could make it there in about six minutes and be to minimum safe distance in the remaining time.

Daniel was surprised to encounter no covenant troops at all on his sprint to 4. He was almost disappointed. He still wanted to make them pay for what they did, but realized that in another 13 minutes, the nuke would do that for him. He ran into a cleared area of forest and saw it. A ninety-meter long craft of pure black, with strange angled surfaces to deflect radar signature. There was no time to waste. He ran to the side hatch, and sprinted inside to the control room. The NAV computer was waiting. Then it caught his eye. A hinged black panel with discrete letters that spelled 'TRANSPONDER'. The ship's transponder relay. The device that allowed the UNSC to track the ship, and communicate with it.

Daniel felt the stinging on the back of his neck. When his com was broken, his bio-monitors _must_ have flatlined. All the rest of them thought he was dead. A strange, forbidden idea began to enter his head. He had always chafed under the conformity imposed upon him by Mendez. He had hated the endless drilling, the strict orders, with no room for interpretation. His fellow spartans held him in contempt for the lack of care for regulations and team unity he had always displayed, and on many occasions he had managed to put the blame of his troublemaking on them in return. There would be little love lost there. He loved fighting alone. He didn't even much like having to share the action with Anthony… Anthony. He just remembered. The only real friend he had ever had in the Spartans had just died in the most sudden and absolute way possible. There was nothing tying him to the Spartans now. And he would _never_ have an opportunity like this again.

Without thinking, and despite years of training screaming at him not to do so, he pulled open the black panel, raised the plasma pistol and held down the trigger for three seconds. Once it was glowing a bright green, he released the sparking blob of plasma into the electronics. The view screen flashed a warning. 'WARNING-Transponder relay operating at ZERO percent'. Daniel walked over to the NAV computer, and typed in on the touch screen panel: 'Set course for New Gibraltar'. 'Course set." The computer replied. 'Estimated time of arrival in 60 days. Preparing atmospheric exit vector.' Daniel felt the ship shake as it rose into the air, and sat down in the pilot's seat. He had a long time to mull things over.

Back in the covenant command base the Brutes were trudging though the carnage wreaked on their former commanders, assessing the damage and trying to figure out _who_ had just attacked. A brute minor stood in the corner, watching as his superiors argued about what happened, and what they should do. They had just received the news that the attackers had escaped, and not a single body of theirs had been found. The brute heard a strange low pitched beeping sound coming from the hallway. He walked out and barked to another. "Garevus, do you hear that sound?" "Yes. Where is it coming from?" "It seems like…" He searched for a few seconds. "here" and pointed to a ventilation shaft on the wall. The two brutes opened the shaft to reveal a four-foot-long metal cylinder. The device's beeping began to rise in frequency.

On sub prowler craft 3, Spartans crowded around the view screen, which had a picture of the planet below them, all wanting to take a look at their handiwork. Exfiltration craft 4 had disappeared from their contacts ten minutes ago, and they assumed the covvies had found and destroyed it. They all watched the countdown timer in silent anticipation, as it counted down from 0:30 at an agonizingly slow rate. The energy increased in the room, though only another Spartan could have detected it. The countdown hit zero, and there was a flash of light as a new sun erupted on the surface of the planet. The Spartans released the breath they had been collectively holding, and began congratulating each other. It was one of the few times the Spartans ever got to celebrate, and they made the most of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Four years later, Daniel was once again mentally reviewing that last battle with Anthony. He didn't blame himself, Spartans were always prepared for death. He often found himself questioning his decision, though. He was not usually one for pointless speculation, but there was always those questions he could never quite answer. What would have happened if he had gone back? Where would he be now? Survival rates for Spartan III's were never good. Would he be dead by now? Are the rest of them even alive? Daniel shook his head to clear away his brooding thoughts. He instead turned his thoughts to his upcoming mission. He always thought of them as missions, after all. Some aspects of Spartan training never went away.

After collecting his bounty at Salamis, Daniel had been approached with an interesting offer. The man claimed to work for someone called "Axle", who seemed like your typical outer-colony crime lord. Someone he could evade easily if things went south on the job. The pay was good. Probably enough to buy himself a retractable gauss turret for the ship. He had never needed one so far, but that was no guarantee for the future. Another reason though, was that it would make a nice addition to his gun collection. When he had stolen the ship, the armory only had a couple dozen MA5Cs, and a few pistols, most of which he had to sell to keep his ship going. Over his four years of working, he had amassed a collection of almost every type of gun you could think of, for any situation. Shotguns, BR-55s, rocket launchers, sniper rifles. He had even obtained a small stockpile of covenant weapons. He had been looking for a Spartan laser for some time now with no success, but he knew a place where he could discreetly have a gauss turret installed on his ship. The main drawback with all these weapons, though, was that only a handful of them had PR paneling to allow them to be used with his infiltration armor. Didn't stop him from collecting them, though.

The job, which he was now invisibly moving toward, was on the single moon of a the single gas giant in the solar system. It was very far from inhabited space, and only had a mining outpost on the surface because of the moon's large ore deposits. It was a mining operation controlled by the Sanghieli. He normally would have objected, as the aliens were very much an unknown quantity, but the pay was too good to pass up, as well as there being almost no military presence in the area. The mining operation was powered by Grunt convict labor, overseen by a private company of Jackals. The Jackals' pay was kept in a vault with surprisingly low security measures, according to the intel Axle's representative had given him. These days, it was simple enough to convert Covenant currency to UNSC credits. According to Axle's employee, it would only take about four people to storm in, force the Jackals to open the vault, and race out before anyone could stop them. He was to meet Axle's men on-site and do the job, taking half for himself. Most likely, he could have done the entire job by himself but, as usual, didn't want to draw attention to the extent of his abilities.

There was a brief period of shaking as the ship entered the moon's atmosphere. He looked at the planet below on his view screen, (as _The Highwayman _naturally didn't have windows) to see a desert wasteland, with the only vegetation existing near the moon's polar regions. "Landing sequence initiated, Captain. Touchdown will be in 3 minutes." Raven spoke over the intercom. Daniel couldn't help but wonder what Raven would look like if this ship had a holo-projector. All he knew of raven was her feminine voice. He supposed there wasn't really much to know. He donned his battle gear, and grabbed his canteen for the hike through the desert. He didn't trust these people enough to let them know where his ship was. He then strapped his pistol and rifle holsters on, and attached his M6D and MA5C. He had gotten used to using holsters by now, but he very much preferred the magnetic clamps on his SPI armor whenever he got a chance to use it. He only allowed himself to use his advanced stealth armor on the most secretive of his missions, because if anything would tip people off, that would be it. Most of the time, he limited himself to using stripped-down marine body armor to keep a low profile.

There was a thud as the ship landed, and he headed out the cargo bay ramp into the light desert breeze. It was oppressively hot, but this didn't bother Daniel at all. He looked back at the warthog parked in his cargo bay, but knew he couldn't risk anyone seeing the plume of dust it would raise if he drove it. He then took off at a sprinting pace that would have startled anyone who was there to see it. He had fourteen kilometers to cover, and was planning on running the entire way. After about forty-five minutes, his superior eyesight caught three figures in the distance, waiting at what he assumed to be the meeting point. He lowered his speed to a more plausible rate. He very rarely trusted anyone, so he kept his hand near his M6D. One of them approached him as he did his best to make it look like he was tired from the long hike. The man had a weathered and intimidating look to him, sported a full beard, and carried a shotgun.

"You Daniel?" he asked in a sandpaper-throated voice. "Yes" Daniel replied. "You must be Henry." The man nodded, and pointed to his comrades. "Those two are Phil and Lee. God willing, all of us will be richer today." he said with a not-so-pleasant smile. Daniel looked west and saw the mining compound in the distance, and saw grunts and jackals mulling about. He was surprised to feel his heart rate increase. It had been a long time since he had thought about the reason he had volunteered for the Spartans in the first place. His home planet, which he could barely remember now, was glassed. His entire family killed as he was herded onto the last ship away from the colony. He had just remembered the burning hatred he had felt toward the monsters who had taken his family away, and how much he wanted to be like Lieutenant Ambrose. All of it felt like a different life, really. Like someone else's life. But there was still that twinge of seeing the enemy once more that had brought it all back up.

'Stop it.' He mentally berated himself. He was getting way too reminiscent today, and it was bound to throw off his performance. He had to think of the mission. It was almost dusk now, and the guard would be changing soon. Daniel nodded at Henry, and made to keep moving toward the objective when he heard Raven's voice in his earpiece. "Warning, multiple slipspace ruptures detected." "What are they Raven?" replied Daniel, worried. "Eight ships have exited slipspace nearly simultaneously. They seem to be opposed Brute and Elite forces." "Shit" Daniel said under his breath. If there was a battle in the space above them, there was any number of things that could go wrong with the mission, and he didn't want to find out what. He turned back to the other three to tell them the job was compromised, and saw the barrels of three weapons pointing at him.

"Sorry Danny-boy, but you have pissed off one too many people." said the one called Henry, with a grin that was decidedly less pleasant than the first one. "Me most of all. Boss Claude has lost no less that fifty million because of you, and is offering 200,000 for someone to bring him that fancy armor of yours. Not to mention that I personally have lost four high-end jobs to your 'Exceptional skills.'" So, this man was a bounty hunter. And he was the bounty. Which meant that this entire job had been a ruse, to get him alone. His mind raced about what to do. Should he dive for Henry, use him as a shield or… He then noticed a low rumbling sound coming from the sky. The others noticed it too. It was just the distraction he needed. The others looked up and he wasted no time pulling his pistol out and shooting Phil in the neck. He slumped over, and lightning quick, he dove for Henry's shotgun. He let off a shot, but Daniel was no longer where he was supposed to be. Before he could ponder just how this man could move so fast, Daniel had him in a headlock and had shot Lee twice in the chest, right where his heart was. In the next half-second, Daniel twisted Henry's neck cruelly, and he fell over, dead. His adrenaline still rushing, he remembered the distraction that had saved his life. It was louder now. He looked up to see a burning covenant destroyer move right in front of the sun. There was a flash of light as it slammed right into the compound. A moment later, the shockwave reached Daniel and his world went black.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was a normal day for Kizik at the work camp. And 'normal' meant 'miserable' for Kizik. Unggoy in normal occupations were treated poorly, but this was a convict labor camp, run by Kig-yar, which meant that every other day there was an "accident", usually involving a Kig-yar covered in the bright blue blood of an Unggoy. Not only did the stocky Kizik have to deal with the taunts and prods of the filthy Kig-yar on a daily basis, he also had to put up with his intolerable fellow Unngoy, the bulk of which were thuggish, crude, and ill-tempered. With all their mistreatment at the hands of the Kig-yar, they could only vent their frustration on each other. Fights were common, and it was just as common for the Kig-yar to watch, and finish the loser when they were done. After his excruciatingly long shift in the mine shaft (8 hours was quite a strain on the Unngoy metabolism, who usually had a wake/sleep cycle of 6 hours.) his only comfort was to wander into the desert for some solitude. In the five years he had been in this place he had discovered a rocky outcropping that was shady enough to be tolerable, about a kilometer from the compound where no one could see. There was no fence or guards around the compound because there was nowhere to run to. In six hours, an Unngoy's methane supply would run out, and they would suffocate. If they wanted to breathe, they damn well better show up for work.

Yet, despite the condition of this place, Kizik still couldn't bring himself to regret what got himself here in the first place. He killed a Kig-yar trader who had spat in his face just for bumping into him, right after he had failed his exam for deaconship no less. He relished the memory of that smug Kig-yar's eyes bulging as he strangled the life out of it. He was lucky it had been the Sangheili guards to pull him off of the bloodied corpse. If it had been more Kig-yar… he didn't like to think what would have happened. A smile came across his face as he reached his destination. The outcropping, with a small, wheeled push-cart under it. The cart carried Kizik's supply of extra methane and food nipples that he had spirited away from the compound. Kizik sat down, unrolled a food nipple, and sucked out the pasty, flavorless substance, that was nonetheless nutritious. Kizik moved to stare out over the desert, expecting to see what he had seen every day since he had arrived here. This time though, something was different. Someone was out there. And not just one, three. They looked like… humans? What on Balaho would they be doing here? Kizik just stared as one more approached the rest. Four humans. Dozens of light years away from anywhere notable. Dozens more away from human-controlled space. Were they a raiding party? What would they raid out here?

The new one turned away from the rest. The other three nodded, and pointed their guns at the fourth. This scene was making less and less sense to Kizik. The fourth tensed up, and that was when he heard it. A low screaming that shook his very exoskeleton. He looked up to see a broken warship hurtling into the atmosphere. He looked back at the humans and much to his surprise, the one that was just being held at gunpoint had killed the other three somehow. He decided to think about how this was possible later though, and hurled himself as far under the outcropping as he could, curling into a tight ball. There was a thunderous roar, the wind blew like mad, the ground shook and the rock splintered. Dirt and sand rushed through the air around him, covering him almost completely. It wasn't exactly an unfamiliar sensation, though. There was more shaking, and more explosions, until it finally died down, leaving Kizik shivering and shell-shocked. He peeked out from behind his rock, to see that the entire camp had been obliterated by the impact. The destroyer covered the whole thing. It had gouged its way deep into the ground, and he doubted that even the deepest mine shafts were spared. If they were, they were trapped and doomed nonetheless.

"Must be a battle going on." he thought to himself, noting the ship's obvious plasma scars. It was beyond him though, why anyone would fight over this place. He looked at the crushed ship thoughtfully. If it was a Jiralhanae ship, it could mean they would come out and maybe find him, if any survived. He shuddered at the thought. If it were a Sangheili ship, then that meant that the Jiralhanae were probably winning, and would eventually come down to finish the job anyway. So, he was most likely screwed either way. He could try to run, but where, to? With his limited methane… a thought then struck him. He looked back at where the humans had been standing. He hoped against hope that the fourth one was still alive. Pushing his cart across the sand and gravel, he reached the strange red blood soaked ground where the humans were. He found the large one a few meters away half buried in sand. It wasn't moving. "Please be alive, please be alive." He said to himself. A little closer, and he saw, much to his relief, the human was breathing.

The humans had to have come from somewhere, and that meant they had a ship. If he saved this one, it might just take him with it. Then he remembered that he still needed methane. He had enough now for 28 hours of breathing in his cart. Not very long. And a human wasn't likely to have methane on his ship. "I'll worry about that later." Kizik decided. Right now, he needed to get the human on the cart. He pulled the gun off its back, and removed its body armor as best he could. With a heave he managed to lean the limp human against the cart. This one was a lot heavier than he imagined. Kizik was, however, significantly stronger than a typical Unggoy. That was the only thing that allowed him to survive all these years under such brutal treatment. Also what allowed him to kill a Kig-yar with his bare hands. With several more efforts, he managed to heave the bulky human onto the cart. Two of his food nipples burst, but that was the least of his problems now. He looked on the ground to see the human's pistol laying there. He picked it up, and it fit his hand well enough. Now he had a contingency plan, in case the human was less than cooperative. He stuck it in his belt. Kizik checked his memory, remembering which direction the human approached the others from, and began the long process of pushing 200 kilograms of weight across the desert. Some places were sandy, which made for slow going, but others were hard flat clay, which was considerably easier.

After four hours of trudging through the desert, and nearly collapsing from exhaustion, he finally saw what had to be the ship. It was a small angular black thing, but Kizik felt like he'd never seen anything more beautiful in his life. Finally, his chance to get off of this forerunner-forsaken hellhole! As he came up next to it, he now face the dilemma of getting in. He saw a ramp leading up to what looked like a door. Next to it he saw what seemed to be an intercom. Maybe someone else was in the ship. He reached above his head and pressed the small black button, and said in human language "Please let in!" The Unggoy had a natural propensity for understanding other languages, and sometimes spoke human language when they didn't want other species eavesdropping. Other species considered it "beneath them" to know it, but it was proving quite useful now. A human voice replied "You are not authorized to access this vessel." Kizik took a moment, and decided that it meant no. He tried again, "Your human is hurt." The voice responded, "Please provide proof of claim." Kizik recognized the word "proof". He ran back down to his cart, and gruelingly pushed it up the ramp to where he saw the camera was, making sure it could get a good look at the unmoving human. "Let in now?" he said impatiently. "Maybe Brutes come!" He added, pointing to the enormous plume of dust that was still hanging in the air off in the distance, due to the crashed ship. The disembodied voice seemed to consider this for a moment. "Temporary access granted. Please take the Captain to the medical facility." The door slid open, and Kizik felt the cool air of its interior. A wave of relief come over him, and he wheeled the inert human into the cargo bay.

It was a small ship, and Kizik managed to find the medical bay without too much trouble. It was a small white room with what looked to be an automated medical suite. Of course this was total conjecture on Kizik's part. He had little experience in his own kind's medical facilities, much less would he know what humans would use. After a few more minutes of jostling, Kizik managed to get the ridiculously heavy human onto the metal table in the center of the room. The moment he stepped away, the machinery came to life, startling him to the point of almost falling over. One of the apparatuses began to emit a blue light, and slowly began to move over the human, obviously some sort of scanning device. Kizik noticed another intercom on the wall, and remembered why he was here in the first place. He spoke into it "We need leave now!" The mysterious voice replied "I cannot do that without the Captain's explicit permission." Kizik was growing frustrated with this human. "Why not!? Brutes maybe come!" The voice replied once again "My programming does not allow me to perform a function like that without the Captian's orders." Programming? Kizik suddenly realized it. "You are computer?" he asked nervously. "That is correct." The AI replied. Kizik let out a frustrated sigh, and slumped against the wall. Now he wasn't getting off this planet until the human woke up, if he didn't kick him off the ship despite his help, that is.

Kizik's hand wandered down to his belt, and felt the cold metal of the human's pistol. He did have an emergency plan, but also recalled what this particular human had just done to _three_ other humans with better guns than this one. And he doubted that if this human saw him with a gun he would be very inclined to help. But he couldn't just give up, and let himself be completely at an unknown human's mercy. He had to think fast, it might not be long before the human woke up. He could try to stow away, but the AI knew he was here, and would doubtless tell the human of his presence, and could probably tell him exactly where he was. If he were to hold the human at gunpoint from the start… well, he didn't know how he killed those other humans, but he didn't want to find out. He decided to hide the gun instead. He could put it somewhere the human couldn't find it, and if worse came to worse, he could grab it, and then negotiate. He walked through the ship, scanning the hallway. He noticed an air vent. Best of all, it was blocked from the view of the ship's cameras by the bulkhead. Moving casually, so as not to arouse the computer's suspicion, he quickly slid it open and placed the gun inside. He then made his way to what seemed to be living quarters. It would probably be best if he wasn't the first thing the human saw when he woke up.

Kizik saw another intercom, and wondered if he should check on the human. He abandoned the idea when he realized just how exhausted he was. He had just worked his 8 hour shift, lived through an apocalypse, and pushed an enormous human through miles of sand, he could barely keep his eyes open now. He looked at the humans bed, but decided it was best not to push his luck with hospitality. He had just refilled his tank after getting on the ship, so he had enough for a nap. He pulled up a spot on the floor, and quickly drifted off.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The limbo between sleep and wakefulness was short lived, as Daniel came to his senses quickly and assessed his surroundings. He soon realized that he was in his medical bay, with the automated medical apparatus hovering over him. He felt a throbbing in his shoulder, he looked to his side to see a wake-up stimulant syringe being retracted. He slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, and examined his injuries. His head was throbbing, but not dangerously so, and he felt bruising on his right side where the shockwave had caught him. On his other side he found the skin scuffed and torn by his impact with the ground, but patched up as best as could be done with the apparatus. None of his bones were broken, which was to be expected. If any had, it would have worried him greatly, as his they were supposed to be the strength of reinforced titanium. Daniel slowly became aware of an odd sensation in his mouth, and realized that it was full of sand. This realization brought on a coughing fit as he rushed to the sink to wash out his mouth. After purging every grain that he could (he was certain he would still be feeling sand for at least a week) he said in the direction of the intercom "Raven, how am I?" Her barely tolerable cheerful voice replied "You have suffered a mild concussion, and have significant bruising, but are otherwise unharmed Captain." That was good. If he had received any ruptured organs, he was pretty far from anywhere that could do something about it.

Now, his immediate situation was under control, and he could focus on the wider context. Daniel mentally reviewed what he could remember. There was the ruse that had been pulled on him. He must be getting sloppy, he would have to check out his clients more carefully next time. Then there was the battle, and the destroyer. He was pretty sure the work camp was obliterated, and there was nothing to be gained by going back. But what if the crew of the ship had survived? "Raven, is there anything coming from the shipwreck?" Daniel snapped at his AI, who calmly responded, "I cannot see any motion from this distance, Captain, but from the velocity of the impact, it is possible that some of the more resilient species survived." "Damn." Daniel muttered. If they saw his ship take off, they would certainly report it to the surviving ships, and he doubted that even the Elites would just let him go.

"What's the status of the battle, Raven?" he needed to get a handle on the situation, or bad things could happen. "Two Elite ships, and one Brute ship remain, the brute ship is falling back and using hit-and-run tactics. From the available data, the wrecked ship is likely to be Brute-controlled." That was bad news. That meant the Elites would certainly come down to finish the job, and then there was no way they wouldn't spot the _Highwayman_. "Raven, get us away from the planet as fast as you can, without drawing attention." "Yes Captain. The warships appear to be occupied for the moment. If we get far enough away, we may enter slipspace without them noticing. What is our destination?" Daniel was about to reply, when something suddenly cast a shadow over his thoughts. He realized that something was very wrong. Something didn't quite add up. A question entered his mind moments later, which he knew he should have asked the very moment he woke up. "Raven" he said slowly, "How did I get back on the ship?"

* * *

Kizik was generally quite familiar with sleeping on hard surfaces, so when he awoke he wasn't miserable, but wasn't exactly refreshed either. Nearly every one of his muscles was stiff and sore, and for a moment he wondered if the vibrating floor had made it worse. It then occurred to him that if the floor was vibrating, then this ship must have taken off, which was quite a relief. The next thing to occur to him right before he opened his eyes, was that if they were flying, then someone must have ordered the ship to take off. Someone who was awake. The first thing he saw upon fully waking was the metal barrel of a human handgun pointed right between his eyes.

Startled, Kizik leapt backward, straight into the wall, which he then bounced off of, following up by clumsily landing on his face. Gaining his senses, he looked up at the human, who was a lot more imposing now that he was conscious, and who still had the gun trained on Kizik. The unngoy glanced at the pistol, and saw that it wasn't the same one that he had hidden. Perhaps he didn't know about it. Momentarily lost in his thoughts, he realized the human was saying something. He looked up, confused, and the human repeated itself, apparently losing patience. "Who are you?" it asked. Simple enough to understand. Kizik could feel the panic coming though, and had to fight to keep it down. All of his kind were susceptible to it when alone. In groups, the Unggoy gained strength, and could thus put up a decent fight. But when faced with danger alone, even an isolated Unggoy like Kizik found it hard to function.

Kizik swallowed, and forced himself to speak. "Me work in mines." He knew his human language must sound childish, but he was more worried about his brain staying where he liked it. The Human spoke again. "How'd you escape the blast?" Kizik got his meaning. Humans were relatively easy to understand, but speaking like them was the hard part. "Me leave camp to sleep. Don't like Jackals." Don't like Jackals? His life was on the line here, and all he could come up with was something as obvious as sand being gritty? He berated himself for his dumb remark until he heard another question. "What did you do with my guns?" Guns? Oh, no, this must be the one. The question that decided his fate. He hesitated for half a second before replying, "Left in sand. Too heavy."

Kizik tried to appear as genuine as he could. At this point, it was taking everything he had to not let his panic overtake him. When that happens, there's no telling what he would do. He might throw himself at it's feet and beg for mercy, attempt to run, pull his gas mask off and just end it all, or go into a suicidal rage which would be quickly rewarded with death. No, he had to stay in control. His life depended on it. The human seemed to size him up for a few moments, before finally putting his gun back into it's holster.

Kizik breathed a sigh of relief. For what it was worth, the human didn't intend to kill him. What he _did_ intend to do was still in question however. The human appeared to not quite know what to do with him. It began talking again. "You're one of the convicts?" Kizik wracked his brain for the meaning. It didn't come up. He nervously replied "What that mean?" The human, a little exasperated, said "Prisoner." He knew that word. "Yes. Two years." The human continued his questions. "What's your name?" Name? Why could this human possibly care? Maybe something to call him besides 'Grunt'. This was a good sign. It meant he was planning on him being around longer. "Me Kizik." He replied, finally daring to meet the humans eyes. The human considered him for another moment.

"Kizik, you can call me Daniel. First of all, you should know that I'm not stupid. I know quite well that you only saved me so you wouldn't die. But, you did, and that's worth something. And I know you're not stupid either, seeing as how you've made it this far, so understand that I mean it when I say; if you do _anything_ I don't like, I won't hesitate to kill you. Is that understood?" Kizik nodded, unperturbed. Threats against his life were far from a new thing for him, even though he could tell that this one was serious. Now that he was beginning to feel like he wasn't about to die, he took a chance to ask the human something that had been bugging him. "Why you come here?" This seemed to surprise the human, and kizik knew why. Unngoy usually never drew any unnecessary attention to themselves, but he was too curious for the moment. They human spoke. "I came to steal the Jackal's pay. Along with the other humans." He seemed to keep it more simple so the Unngoy could understand. He must not like repeating himself. But it still didn't make any sense. "But Jackals not paid here. Each get paid on leave." The human's expression turned darker. "Well, I know that now."

Kizik considered this for a moment, before it clicked. A place in the middle of nowhere on false premises, alone. A perfect place to kill someone and not get caught. That meant someone wanted this human dead, and that , in turn, meant someone thought he was dangerous enough to merit pulling such an elaborate ruse on. Add to that the fact that he managed to kill the humans that had the drop on him, Kizik was starting to get a better picture of what kind of person he was dealing with. And he would definitely heed the human's - Daniel's warning.

Once again, the human interrupted his thoughts. "It seems to me like you've got a bigger problem than me, though… Kizik." Kizik looked up, confused. The human continued, "The closest planet to here is three weeks away. And it looks like you only have a day's worth of methane left." The implications started to sink in. The human wouldn't kill him, but his own biology would. Not getting his hopes up, he asked "No methane on ship?" He already knew the answer. "No. And the camp on the ground is completely destroyed. None there either." Kizik slumped against the wall. He went through all this just to die gasping in 24 hours.

* * *

Daniel looked at the grunt huddled on the floor. It seemed resigned to its fate. That was strange. Most grunts that he had seen were panicky and cowardly. This one seemed different though. An idea occurred to him, and he slowly made his way to the intercom. "Raven, would one of the cryo-tubes work for a grunt?" The AI seemed to think about it for a moment. "Yes, with a few modifications one of the cryo-tubes could accommodate a grunt's physiology, albeit uncomfortably." Daniel knew what she meant by "uncomfortable". There was any number of problems that stemmed from being frozen, and while few were life-threatening, all of them were painful. He'd just have to suck it up, though. He turned back to the grunt, who had been listening, but didn't look like he understood their exchange, and said "It looks like there is a way to keep you alive. But, I need to know where we can go for methane. And I would prefer it not to be a Sangheili world." It only took the grunt a second to respond. "Port Asrev." Asrev… Yes, he'd heard of it.

"Okay, come with me." He said, abruptly walking out of the room. Kizik followed nervously. On his way to the cyro-storage room, he wondered to himself just why he was helping this grunt. He had killed plenty as a Spartan. Sure, he had never hated them that much. That hatred was mostly reserved for Brutes and Elites. But not too long ago, the short alien behind him would have been the enemy. Still, it was hard to feel much ill will against a species that was forced to the front lines under the threat of death, and who he regularly saw badly mistreated by their commanders. Not to mention that he had easily killed so many Grunts like helpless children. Daniel still wasn't sure, though. His Spartan upbringing must have worn off a bit by now. He couldn't help but feel that four years ago, he wouldn't have hesitated to snap it's neck, and not even waste a bullet on it.

And perhaps there was something different about this one, too. Front-line Grunts were usually a squealing, grunting mob with little direction or control, and as individuals seemed to be submissive and spineless. This one however, didn't run, didn't beg, and showed surprising initiative. Besides, he had heard that Port Asrev was a good place for work. He mostly just avoided that part of space due to the proximity to the aliens. (It was so strange, no longer being able to call them the Covenant. He guessed that they were having the exact same problem.) As the attempt on his life had shown, his usual neck of the woods was no longer safe, all the more reason to go to Asrev. With his mind made up, he continued to the cryo-pods to show Kizik his solution.


End file.
